After a pandemic that put the brakes on travel for more than one year, Americans are reconsidering how they think about and use paid time off.
According to the latest Priceline Work-Life Balance Report, 92 percent of Americans will travel, or already have, in 2021, and 52 percent are going as soon as this summer. This mirrors the findings of many other surveys that have noted Americans' insatiable desire to venture out after a year of staying at home.
Many Americans left paid time off on the table in 2020 and, now, they regret not using their days off. Only one in five (21 percent) Americans used all of their PTO in 2020, the report found, and more than half regret not using those days, a significant change from the one in five (21 percent) who felt that way in 2019.
Why the change? Many Americans (35 percent) who found themselves working from home regret not capitalizing on their newfound flexibility.
Thirty-two percent regret not working from new/different places, and 40 percent regret not taking more trips-this is especially true of younger generations (49 percent of Gen-Z and 51 percent of Millennials, compared to 37 percent of Gen-X and 22 percent of Boomers).
"Now that we've all felt the very real burnout that happens when we don't take the time to recharge, the value of vacation is no longer abstract-it's fact," says Priceline CEO Brett Keller.
A shift to working from home is bound to be one of the more lasting effects of the pandemic, and it seems to be popular with workers.
Priceline's survey revealed that 40 percent of Americans prefer to work from home full time, but there are other positive aspects to working from home as well.
Priceline's research found that 75 percent of people said remote work has made work-life balance more achievable, and 72 percent enjoy not having to go into the office so they could work from different locations. Sixty-six percent said that they feel encouraged to explore new destinations.
This new work-from-home culture is blurring the lines between work and vacation time with the increase in popularity of the "workcation."
Sixty percent of those surveyed reported being encouraged to take more workcations while working from home, and 34 percent said that they had extended a trip because they now have the freedom to work from anywhere.
Now that Americans feel they can travel again, they are doing so with a vengeance and plan to take advantage of remote work to travel more. Seventy-eight percent are excited to travel, and nearly all-92 percent-are planning to do so if they haven't already, according to Priceline.
Sixty-six percent plan to take full advantage of working remotely by traveling more in 2021, with parents even more likely to say this (71 percent) than non-parents (62 percent).
Americans who have been known to leave vacation days on the table are now changing their tunes. Sixty-five percent of those who have a fixed number of paid-time-off days are planning to use more vacation and personal days in 2021.
Eighty-two percent said that they plan on using their 2021 vacation days by the end of the year, and 16 percent said they would use all of their days off for one vacation. This complements findings that the average length of hotel stays has increased by 12 percent this summer.
It is clear that, after a long year at home, Americans are putting more value than ever on time off and their ability to take a vacation.
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